1. Field of the Present invention
The present invention relates generally to food, pharmaceutical, and chemical cold chains and, more particularly, to creating a full temperature history “from creation to consumption” using a sensor-enabled RFID chip on which data can indicate how many minutes a product remains in a specific temperature range.
2. Background of the Invention
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has passed regulations that implement the Bioterrorism. Act. These new regulations impact all suppliers in the food and drug industries. Specifically, the FDA has mandated that records must identify the previous source and subsequent recipient of food and pharmaceuticals in the U.S. supply chain, along with specific details of the product itself.
Because of the high costs and increasing regulatory demands for better inventory control resulting from the Bioterrorism Act, suppliers and logistics service providers are seeking systems that will be capable of tracking products from creation to consumption. Further, suppliers have a growing need to account for all segments of handling within the cold chain.
3. Description of Related Art
RFID is a wireless identification system which conventionally includes a RFID reader, tags, local software infrastructure and a back-end system. The RFID tag is the identification device in the system and normally includes at least a microchip attached to an antenna that sends data to a RFID reader. The RFID tag contains a unique serial number, and can also contain additional data. RFID tags can be active, passive, or semi-passive tags.
In operation, the RFID reader transmits RF signals. This electromagnetic field generated by the reader powers each RFID tag and enables it to send back information stored on the chip. A passive tag is an RFID tag that does not contain a power source. The semi-passive tags are a class of RFID tags that contain a power source, such as a battery, to communicate with the reader. Semi-passive tags might be dormant until activated by a signal from a reader. This conserves battery power and can lengthen the life of the tag. Active RFID tags contain a power source, such as a battery, to power the microchip's circuitry. Active tags transmit a signal to a reader and can be read from 100 feet (35 meters) or more. A sensor enabled RFID tag is an RFID tag which contains a sensor to monitor some physical parameter (e.g. Temperature) but also contains the same identification function that a standard RFID tag does. The functionality of the sensor enabled tags is supported by battery power.
At present, RFID tags are not used extensively within the food tracking industry. Accordingly, most food tracking and monitoring is performed by hand and in reliance on a single temperature gauge within a container. When the shipment is later broken up, there is no record for any individual product which the purchaser may receive.
With the latest improvement in RFID technology, the cost of sensor-enabled RFID tags has been significantly reduced. Accordingly, it has become increasingly more practical to use sensor-enabled RFID tags on individual products and to integrate them into existing shipping container monitoring systems, supply chain storage facilities, and transactional segments. However, the basic memory capacity and battery power within a RFID tag is limited. Further, a full temperature history “from creation to consumption” relying solely on individual RFID tags is not practical or useful for all products or for all situations especially where the IT infrastructure is limited. Accordingly, there is a significant need to develop a collaborative supply chain management system which incorporates available RFID technologies in new ways without burdening either shippers or infrastructure providers.